Arsenal legend Thierry Henry tells ex-Tottenham player Gareth Bale to 'be his own man' at Real Madrid

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has urged Gareth Bale to find the right balance between trying to score on his own and choosing when to link up with Real Madrid team-mates such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in attack.

The former Tottenham hero has come in for criticism recently from fans and the media after being accused of ball-hogging instead of seeking out team-mates who may have been better-placed to score.

The The Wales international was even booed by some of his own fans at the Santiago Bernabeu during the recent victory over Real Sociedad. And in the game against Espanyol last month even Ronaldo rebuked him for opting to shoot instead of passing giving him the ball.

Henry, who during his time at Barcelona, shared attack with both stars Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o, has told Bale to be his own man.

"You can't keep everyone happy. You need to be your own man and do what the game is asking at the time. It isn't easy sometimes," the former Arsenal striker told Sky Sports.

"I don't know if he's trying to overcompensate but when you play with a big man like Cristiano Ronaldo, we've all been in that position where you have to feed the guy of the team."

Bale has not scored a goal since the Real Sociedad game last month while and looked almost shy in the last La Liga game against Deportivo la Coruna and as well in the Wednesday's Champions League 2-0 victory over Schalke 04.

"I had to do it with Sonny Anderson (at Monaco) and he let me know when I wasn't giving him the ball. He's looking to assist Cristiano Ronaldo and he did the same thing against Deportivo the other day," Henry continued.

"He looked like he was making sure he wanted to give a goal to someone, maybe to stop people talking. We've all had to feed the man but you have to find the right balance there – to not upset him sometimes but also to play your game."

However, speaking after the game, Bale said he has not changed at all his game due to the recent incident with Ronaldo or his own fans.

"I haven't really adapted my style of play. In certain games, if a sight of goal has opened up I'll take it," he said. "But tonight I think my team-mates were in better positions and I tried to play the ball around."